A Winter's Tale
by paradoxical
Summary: A poignant romance featuring Draco and Hermione, two unlikely people who succumb to the fates and fall in love. But, as everyone knows, not all things end happily. [ Draco, Hermione ]


Here we go. Random plot, random setting. Angst and romance and everything in between. We're unsure of where this is headed, how long it'll last .. an experiment on our part. So here.  
  
  
  
  
**A Winter's Tale**  
_paradoxical_  
  
  
  
  
The sky was an ominous shade of grey, scatters of clouds gathering into one heavy stormcloud that seemed to dim to black with every collection. The once meek sun, who peered out from time to time, was now gone. No longer were there traces of light that brightened up the atmosphere; instead, it was a dull and dreary evening with clouds that threatened rain and a heavy snowfall on the white-covered ground of Hogwarts.  
  
Two seventh years stood by a dead tree, whose leaves had fallen months ago during the autumn season. The taller figure held the younger and more petite body in his arms, his black robes wrapped carefully around them. His chin rested softly upon her head, upon the brown mass of curls that smelled like honeydew and lavender, and he gently encircled his arms around her waist and pulled the girl closer.  
  
At this point in time, they reminisced their past seven years of attending the same school where most of that time was spent on blind hatred and cruel words that tugged roughly on heartstrings. Most of that time was spent on intense glares and mindless spats that were made to invoke hostility, fear, and whatever seemed appropriate. But with years of passing adolescence comes age, where maturity and a sense of independence comes into play and changes people from better to worse or the other way around. It changes the perspectives of people, adjusts their way of thinking.  
  
And that was what exactly happened to these two, sullen figures.  
  
It happened on a cold night in a semi-dark library, only illuminated by a small lantern. They were just two people passing by, two people whom the mythical Sandman had forgotten. Sleep was on the edge of their fingertips, and a small tale in a book seemed sufficient enough to put them into a comforting slumber. Their eyes had met in the dark, but not one word had been uttered from their lips. Instead, they took two seats at a table and shared that lamp. It hadn't been comfortable silence but neither was it uncomfortable. Simply, they were just two students trying to find sleep, desperately trying to find darkness that could claim them.  
  
Finally, it did. So, they parted the library with heavy lids and deep yawns. But, as they separated ways, a thread had formed between them, intertwining their fates together. Not only had their relationship changed in this curious aftermath but so did their lives. Because then, nothing had ever been the same. Instead, their lives had started from the beginning and they were, yet again, two children lost at sea trying to find their purposes.  
  
One had a destiny to fulfill. The other's purpose was to prevent that destiny from happening. And somewhere along that road, the other was able to fulfill her duty - her duty to save him.  
  
Yet, they had forgotten about that ominous tale. That if individuals attempt to alter fate's intentions, it dramatically changes events in the future.  
  
In the end, the future intended to claim a life.  
  
So this brings us back to the two figures in a heartbreaking embrace. Where one tried to soothe the other with comforting words, telling her that everything would be all right. She broke out into quiet sobs, weakly pounding her fists into his firm and strong figure that had willingly offered itself to her in soft abandon.  
  
The crunching of snow beneath feet snapped their heads up. The teary-eyed girl looked at murder in the eyes that came in the form of a robed silhouette with a dark aura clearly exuding from it, and she cried out in fear.  
  
He finally released her, held her at arm's length, before he removed his robe from around his shoulders and placed it around hers.  
  
The last thing she saw was the dark mark on the back of his neck as he was being led away by the hidden form in black.  
  
_Take me instead._  
  
Her whispered words fell from her lips. He, that frightful figure, turned around sharply, his gaze intent on her fallen and helpless form on the ground. The blonde youth stared in confusion. It finally dawned on him, after an unfathomable weight was lifted from his shoulders, what was happening.  
  
_Avada Kedavra,_ it said. It came out in a hollow whisper and still, it echoed strong. Because then, it took her life.  
  
Suddenly, the clouds opened, releasing a torrent of rain and snowfall.  
  
An ominous day, indeed.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
.. _parting words_ ..  
  
So? Shall I continue? If I do, I'll be adding a chapter where it all happened. The library and so forth to this scene here. And once it arrives, I'll be continuing the rest of the story.  
  
For those who are confused, it is Draco and Hermione. The story goes like this: after an event that has occurred in the library, their fates have been changed. In that process, it changed the future as well. That future called for a life. Here you'll assume Draco's rise to a Death Eater, Hermione's protest and so forth. The scene that just happened would be considered the last scene where that life is taken.  
  
Oh, but if this were to continue, it wouldn't end as such. Perhaps. Who knows.


End file.
